You have to be wise about the way you manage your finances if you do not want to grow old in destitute. Statistics show that a vast majority of people who reach old age do not have enough money to support their financial needs during retirement. With this fact, it is not surprising that many people plan to work “until they drop.” This should not necessarily be the scenario when you have the option of opening a bank account. You have control of your financial future. But, you have to make wise decisions today to ensure that you will face retirement years with enough funds to sustain you through your sunset years.

Here are some cost effective tips on how you can manage your finances today:

Pay Yourself First – If you end up not having enough money left the day after payday, it’s time to make a shift in your money perspective. Instead of spending for expenses first, plan to pay yourself first. Put some money into your savings account first before you spend. It does not have to be a big amount. You don’t even have to go to your bank to do so. Open a bank account online as an option if you do not want the hassle of making a trip to your local bank every time you have to make a deposit. When you accumulate what little amount you deposit regularly over a period of time, you will be surprised at how much money you will be able to save.

Make it Consistent – Save regularly. It might be difficult at first, but when it becomes a habit, it will eventually come as second nature to you. Set an amount, no matter how minimal, and put it in your bank account on a designated day of the month. Scheduling your deposits on your payday and having your regular savings transferred to your bank account is a great way to ensure that you consistently put money towards your future.

Preserve Gains – When you do see your bank account growing, hold the urge to take it out and spend it. There will always be sale events and promotions in your favorite stores. There will always be something that you want to buy for your home. Manage your finances wisely and plan to save up separately for these expenses and leave the money in your bank account to preserve your gains and grow your money even more. Having more to enjoy during your retirement years, after all, is a more rewarding prospect than splurging on a designer outfit that is bound to be out-of-fashion next year.

Watch Your Spending – Finally, pay attention to what you spend your money on. The money that you spend on the grande cup of latte that you get from the gourmet coffee shop on your way to work every morning could add up to a substantial amount. Think about how you can cut back on your expenses so you can put more money in your savings account. The more you save, the more money you will accumulate. When you become successful in your savings plan, you might just be able to enjoy your retirement earlier than you planned.

Picture this: you’re standing in line waiting to pay for your shopping and when it’s finally your turn, you open your purse or wallet to pay. Now what happens? Do you remove the one card from your purse and pay for it in the same way you do all your transactions? Do you hover over several cards, doing a quick mental calculation of how much is left on your credit limit with each, trying to remember which PIN goes with which card and then get a shock when you receive your monthly statement?

If you answered the latter, you’re not alone. It’s not just personal debt that is rising, but the number of credit cards held by an average adult is now around four. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with having a credit card and using it wisely, you aren’t doing yourself any favours by juggling and balancing all the time.

Think credit – think credit score

But before you reach for your scissors, you need to think carefully about how you can best manage your credit cards. Simply cutting them up and closing your accounts may make you feel as though you’ve had a burden lifted, but you need to consider your credit rating. Closing credit cards, even if you don’t use the account, can have a negative effect on your credit score, as you’re essentially reducing the length of your payment and account history. As strange as it seems, it’s best to still use each card on occasion, without racking up massive debts.

A clear balance

For your existing cards, make sure your interest rates are competitive and you have an acceptable credit limit. Then you need to keep these accounts open, paying off high-interest card balances first. Once you’ve cleared all these balances, keep using your cards every now and then to keep them ‘live’, but make sure you clear the balance every month. If you have a lot of credit cards (more than four), you would benefit from speaking to an independent financial advisor to see how you can manage your finances in the best way.

Resist temptation

As you’re leafing your way through all the cards in your purse, the chances are you’ll pass at least one store card. Highly tempting with their money-off purchases and loyalty schemes, these can then become something of a burden when you move on to shopping at a different store. Again, the temptation is to simply open a new card at your new favourite place, but once again you need to consider your credit score. Opening a new card or cancelling your old one will have a negative impact on your credit rating. The best thing to do here is keep your old store card, using it and paying it off occasionally and resist temptation to open another.

Managing your finances is important, especially as you grow older and perhaps have more responsibilities and dependents. Keeping your credit cards in check is a great way to maintain a healthy credit score without racking up unfeasible amounts of debt.

A business without paper works is not complete. The capacity of the human brain to memorize figures and other similar numbered items isn’t enough. You would definitely a record of all your transactions for safe keeping and future references. That’s why bookkeeping is very essential.

Without bookkeeping you won’t be able to have a clear picture of what’s going on with your financial status. Having all these records in an organized manner can do a lot of wonders and it will eventually make your business transactions smooth sailing.

There are several reasons why a business should have an accurate bookkeeping even though it would mean hard work. Because of it you would be able to fasten all the transactions that you needed to complete during tax-paying days. They would surely be asking a lot of supporting financial documents that you can readily produce if you have bookkeeping.

If you want immediate answers like “Am I earning today?” or “Have I been paying too much expenses?”, then you’d probably have bookkeeping. They’re basic yet essential questions of a typical businessman. It’s all going to be about what’s going on and if the business is still running smoothly. Because of systematic bookkeeping you would be able to set attainable goals and eventually formulate solutions accordingly if in any case problems will arise.

With bookkeeping, you are guaranteed that everything is transparent especially if you have a business partner. The other party deserves to know what’s going on and there’s no other way but to show the bookkeeping output and it’s vice versa.

Bookkeeping system will be made of source documents, book of accounts, subsidiary ledgers and financial statements which are all considered to be the backbone of your business venture. They aren’t just simple documents and its content will serve as your leverage in the entire process.